Twitter has officially locked President Donald Trump’s Twitter account for at least following 12 hours after his posts supporting rioters in the U.S. Capitol.
“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” Twitter posted.
According to Twitter policy, Trump can delete the tweets and serve a 12-hour suspension. If he doesn’t delete the posts, he will remain locked out.
The ban of the president’s account comes after supporters of his raided the Capitol on Wednesday.
Earlier today, in his first public statement since his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, engaging in the first attempted coup against the American government since the Civil War, President Donald Trump refused to back down from his claims the election was stolen from him and told the violent rioters who tried to seize the seat of Congress, “We love you.”
In the message, Trump refused to concede and continued to call the results fraudulent and stolen, stoking the same fires that led to his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol building.
He began his message off by saying the other side knows the election was stolen, continuing to incite violence against Democrats.
In the message, Trump half-heartedly told those in the Capitol building to “go home now” but adding “We love you.”
“You’re very special,” he added, but people needed to “go home in peace.”
Given the violence Trump’s messages have inspired so far today, Twitter first took the unprecedented step of blocking users from replying, retweeting, or liking the post.
Both Facebook and YouTube removed the video, according to the Verge.
In a follow-up tweet, Trump called the actions of the mob that stormed the Capitol “the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots.“
He called on everyone to “remember this day.”
Twitter restricted that tweet as well, initially before removing both and locking down the accounts.
This post has been updated.
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